dcs on Nostr: Does anybody remember FIDOnet? My first email address was provided by a local ...
Does anybody remember FIDOnet?
My first email address was provided by a local bulletin board that happened to be connected to FIDOnet and provided a gateway to the outside SMTP world.
I would sometimes chat with the BBS sysop when we were both online. When I told him I was using a hand-me-down 8088, he offered to give me a spare 386sx he had – a huge upgrade for me. He drove to my house to deliver the computer, since I was too young to drive, and my mother was very skeptical about me receiving gifts from some pre-internet stranger.
But there were no strings attached. It was just an act of generosity from a benevolent sysop to a curious kid.
These days, I think that spirit of generosity is mostly lost. Many people try to monetize every interaction. They build brands around themselves, in order to monetize some fictional identity.
But I haven't forgotten FIDOnet and its beneficent sysops. I hope to be as generous as the people who have benefited me.
My first email address was provided by a local bulletin board that happened to be connected to FIDOnet and provided a gateway to the outside SMTP world.
I would sometimes chat with the BBS sysop when we were both online. When I told him I was using a hand-me-down 8088, he offered to give me a spare 386sx he had – a huge upgrade for me. He drove to my house to deliver the computer, since I was too young to drive, and my mother was very skeptical about me receiving gifts from some pre-internet stranger.
But there were no strings attached. It was just an act of generosity from a benevolent sysop to a curious kid.
These days, I think that spirit of generosity is mostly lost. Many people try to monetize every interaction. They build brands around themselves, in order to monetize some fictional identity.
But I haven't forgotten FIDOnet and its beneficent sysops. I hope to be as generous as the people who have benefited me.